I consume so much media; TV, music, books and film, that I’m not very easily wowed, even by great productions. However, once in a few years, maybe even a few decades, I find a brilliant jewel in a myriad of gems and rocks. And this past decade, I found this film.
This movie is something else; of another grade; an actual piece of art, in film form, that is entertainment, and education, and elucidation, and commentary and beauty. A true, true masterpiece.
Oscar pick for Picture of the Year and Best Director! An Amazing, amazing piece of art!
The Rundown
Behind the name: (Korean: 기생충; Hanja: 寄生蟲; RR: Gisaengchung)
Country: South Korea, 2019
Genre: Dark Comedy, Thriller (Tragi-Comedy)
Production Company: Barunson E&A
Cast: Song Kang-Ho (as Kim Ki-Taek), Lee Sun-Kyun (as Park Dong-Ik), Cho Yeo-Jeong (as Park Yeon-kyo), Choi Woo-Shik (as Kim Ki-Woo ), Park So-Dam (as Kim Ki-Jung), Lee Jung-Eun (as Moon-gwang), Chang Hyae-Jin (as Kim Chung-sook)
Compare to: Itself
Hate it or Love it? Absolutely love it! Devour it, Mull over it! Cherish it!
Synopsis in a Sentence: Two families’ lives intertwine; one rich, one poor and then comedy, drama, thriller, and all round parasitism ensue.
On Writing: The Plot
This plot is absolutely remarkable. The base of the story is quite simple, but yet beautifully layered, and nuanced and rich. The story starts with an exposition that gives us the background into our eyes of the film—the poor family who lives in a basement apartment, and everything unravels from there.
The writing takes us through rising action that leads us to experience the pretense, hustle, greed, and fear that life can bring, and we are left with a climax that explodes only to reveal the beauty of its falling action, and a resolution that leaves us thinking through all the layers of real life implications in society.
The writing is so good that it lands on you, transports you, engulfs you into the plot of the story so that when it ends, you’ll need a minute(or two) to deconstruct the staggeringly phenomenal artistry you’ve just been privileged to witness & experience! Wondrous writing!
(5/5)
On Acting: The Cast
Not sure what courage it took for a cast to take this on, because all elements of the film are so perfect that bad acting would stick out like a sore thumb; but of course, the cast matches the plot and production and direction seamlessly, bringing the film to life.
Let’s walk through the cast’s work through the film. There is a scene where veteran actor, Song Kang-Hok, who plays the father of the poor family, Kim Ki-Tae, is coached in acting by his son, Kim Ki-Woo (who is played by actor, Choi Woo-Shik). This is quite a ridiculous scene to watch given that, as one commenter put it; “It’s like watching Tom Holland (Spider Man) give acting lessons to Robert Downey Junior (Iron Man).” In any case, it’s a testament to the cast’s seamless relay throughout the film.
Similarly, we see Park So-Dam and Cho Yeo-Jeong bounce off each other in a scene where they are introduced; Park as a fake “expert” art teacher, and Cho as her employer, the rich mother. We believe them, and though we’ve seen them in many other roles, we believe they are and always will be these characters.
Then there is Lee Sun-Kyun, famous actor, who we see embody his role, and Jeong Hyun-Jun, who does so as well; there are so many people to praise, and they all work symbiotically to produce this great work!
And fun fact, editor Yang Jin-Mo cut this masterpiece of a movie on a no-longer supported, outdated version of Final Cut Pro.
Now, dare we end the praise of the cast without the director, who is arguably the superstar of the whole thing? No. We do not dare. We must...
We have to give a special feature to director Bong Joon-ho, who certainly deserves the best director award and every accolade because. Because. What a mind, what artistry, what expertise to possess to envision and execute such a beguiling art piece. Truly, truly beyond oscar worthy work!
A striking cast!
(5/5)
On Production: The Creativity
It would—could—have been so easy to mess up such a wondrous piece of a work that is the story at the production stage because the nuance is so fine, so delicate, yet the juxtaposition between extremes is so jarring, so stark that it runs the risk of insulting its audience with it’s mundane initiation, yet lambasting the same audience with its sardonic commentary on society. Yet, paradoxically, it does none of that.
The timing & pacing is art, rhythm is art; picture production and sound engineering is science. And synthesised all together, production is genius. The delivery of creativity in its best form. Simple genius.
(5/5)
On Resolution: The Conclusion
Never has an ending been so pretty, so poetic, so perfect. The plot of the movie lands so sardonically sublimely that it is a beauty.
It is hard to deconstruct and determine the exact piece that makes this film a masterpiece, but if mandated, the resolution might be the ace of the whole thing. Remember the exposition? And the climax? And the cast, and the rhythm of the production? Well, the resolution melds them all to become art—literature, music, photography, production and acting—all at their finest. Film at its finest. Pulchritudinous perfection!
(5/5)
The Verdict: An absolute masterpiece, a stunningly, remarkable, actually consumable piece of art. Virtual perfection!
Overall Score = 20/20
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